The present invention relates to a new type of heating suit that is useful for a different types of activities including working, rescue missions, recreation or sport activities in adverse weather conditions, in extreme low temperature environments or for medical treatment. Protection of the people from extremely cold environments in certain regions is of significant practical importance. The heating suit as described, with a powerful, portable and light heat source and very sophisticated heat control and distribution system, for a first time gives a human unlimited freedom to stay outdoor for prolonged time even at extreme cold weather conditions.
Heated clothing first appeared during the First World War as a mean of keeping the aircraft pilots warm and mostly applied an electric energy for heating purposes.
In the prior art there are many different types of heated garments applied for outdoor use. The most known are garments with the heating systems connected to some stationary equipment used as a source of heat, or garments with electrical heating. In most of this solutions wearer of the heating garment has to be connected to the source of energy by an umbilical cords or electrical cables and as a result of this connection his mobility is very limited.
The closest prior art solution known is a garment disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 11050314 (Desanto). According to this solution the wearer is carrying a self-contained heating unit connected with a warming jacket by hot gas passages. The main disadvantage of this solution is that only limited portion of body (upper torso) is heated as a lack of the heat distribution system. Another problem related is condensation of the water vapors originating from the hydrogen combustion process inside of a warming jacket.
Another class of garments known is electrically heated clothing. Examples of this type of garment are described in the following patents: Canadian Patent No. 0410063 (Taylor), U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,037 (Metcalf), U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,460 (Kerr), U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,517 (Brekkestran), U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,705 (Batcheller), U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,296 (Bell). The electrically heated clothing requires to be connected to the electricity source by cables or to be equipped with battery package that often is heavy, cumbersome and with a relatively short life. Both of these solutions have significant disadvantages. Presently this sort of clothing mainly is offered for motorcycle users, for people with cold jobs or disabled people in wheelchairs.
Another type of heating/cooling garments which was distinct in the prior art relay on application of heat delivered from outer source of heat (e.g. engine). The heating garment in this case is connected with heat source by conduits or pipes. The heat is delivered by forced circulation of the heat transmission fluid (gas or liquid). Examples of such apparatus are shown in German Patent No. P 1610647.1 (Holzer), that describe a heat exchanger system arranged inside of the suit with flexible fluid hoses connected to external source of heat, and French Patent No FR 2,437,973 (Bidou) that uses hot air drown from another source of heat (e.g. engine) and blown through channels in protective clothing. Other similar patents based on fluid circulation systems are: U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,053 (Parker), U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,730 (Bell), U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,933 (Jenkins), U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,752 (Hinson), U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,369 (Faghri). However, the disadvantages of these known warming garments is that they are connected by conduits or pipes to a usually stationary heat generating units and wearer mobility is very limited. These garments are cumbersome (thick when inflated) or heavy and rigid mostly because of extensive heat exchange fluid circulation systems. These garments are not equipped with any heat distribution control systems allowing actively and independently control the temperature of different parts of the body.
It is a principal object of the invention to provide a very efficient, lightweight, equipped with its own source of energy, selectively heated clothing for use in adverse, cold weather conditions.
A further object of the present invention is that the warming suit allows staying outdoors for prolonged (practically unlimited) time, is not obstructing movements and has unlimited range of mobility.
The heated clothing according to this invention is based on an innovative concept that utilizes a light, portable, low-temperature heating unit as a source of heat, and heat distributing system that selectively delivers heat to different parts of the body. The heated clothing is equipped with a monitoring and control system that respond according to ambient conditions and maintain a balanced body temperature and moisture.
This heated clothing is light, comfortable and energy efficient. It may be regarded as a garment for work purposes or optional dress for warmth without the bulk. The suit includes attachable, heated gloves and heated boot inserts.
There is no need for any connecting cables (see prior art) or moving machines thus the person wearing the suit can move freely and cost of operation are very low.
This invention includes devices, materials and methods for providing a heated suit with a system that allows keep balanced body temperature. The warming suit is furnished with heat distribution system and microclimate control system that responds actively and easy adapt to the changing surrounding conditions and gives possibility to distribute the heat to different parts of the body accordingly to individual needs of the wearer. Additionally, the suit is equipped with the moisture absorption pad to remove excessive moisture (sweating) inside of the clothing.
The purpose of heated suit is to keep a person comfortably warm, during the outdoor activity, The heated clothing according with this invention is expected to let people perform any outdoor job for prolonged periods of time, even at extremely cold weather conditions (down to minus 40xc2x0 C.), during long winter seasons in cold climate regions (northern Canada or any other cold climate region in the world). It is the principal object of this invention to overcome the mentioned prior art disadvantages by implementation of the very efficient, portable and light heat source, and by that free people from any connections to the stationary heat delivery systems limiting of the wearer mobility.
The object of the present invention is thus to provide an improved very light, flexible and autonomic warming suit, in particular for anybody who wont to protect himself against undesirable external cold influences, while simultaneously maintaining easiness to move, freedom to relocate and possibility to control the temperature of each part of the body independently. The applied heating distribution system is arranged in such a way that it may be adapted, in terms of the heat distribution, to individual needs of the wearer. The whole system is very reliable, energy efficient (there is no any moving machines) and as result the cost of operation are very low.
The heated clothing according to this invention is regarded as a major step towards future xe2x80x9csmart clothesxe2x80x9d that is expected to provide new level of comfort, functionality and convenience for a wearer.
An object of the present invention is the suit in a form of an overall, that is made of weather resistant fabric characterized by very good thermal insulation characteristic and equipped with slots and pockets to accommodate required equipment. The internal side of the suit is covered with attached network of heat distribution lines.
Another object of invention is an heat generation and transmitting system comprising a flame-less, low temperature source of heat, that is portable, preferably propane heater, the window transparent for infrared radiation and the heat collecting plate absorbing infrared radiation. The small size of the catalytic heater with heating power in the range from 50 to 500 watts is located in a special pocket situated on back of the body. The pocket is equipped with air intake and exhaust slots to facilitate access of air required for combustion process. The combustion products in form of off-gases are discharged to the atmosphere. The heater""s surface, with a temperature in the range from about 200xc2x0 C. to 450xc2x0 C., generates the infrared radiation energy that is transferred to the collecting plate located inside of the suit via an infrared window. The collecting plate adsorbs radiation energy and distributes it to the different regions of the body. The infrared window separates the suit interior (hot) space by means of barrier (membrane) from the heater and surrounding (cold) atmosphere.
A further object of the invention is a heat distribution system that consists of arrangement of shatters or valves and transmitting lines used to distribute heat to different parts of the body. Although any suitable method may be used to transfer the heat to the collecting plate and further distribute the heat from the collecting plate to different parts of the human body, as described above, the heat transfer is preferably performed in accordance with two methods of the within invention.
In a first embodiment heat distribution method consists of the collecting plate, absorbing infrared energy, and comprises a system of optical fibers with connections to different regions of the human body. The infrared radiation collecting plate is equipped with shatters to control selectively the amount of radiation transmitted to the optic fibers based distribution system.
The heat energy, in a form of infrared radiation, is transferred via fiberoptics channels and released at the end of each fiber, thus heating the targeted region. The fibers are sufficiently thin to be elastic and main transfer lines might be in a form of the flat bundles of fibers (multi-track fiber optic) attached to the suit.
In a second embodiment, the heat distribution system consists of the heat collecting plate, (in a form of the flat heat exchanger with a surface well absorbing infrared radiation) and plurality of small diameter fluid channels arranged in networks transferring heat to the different regions of body. The fluid circulation might be forced by different means. An option of the fluid pumping system is a solution that applies diaphragm pumps located in shoes (between heel and shoe) and activated by walking. Control valves control the flow rate through sections of the network. Another option is thermally induced flow (thermal convection) or the micro-pump forced flow.
A further object of the invention is the temperature control system relying on a number of temperature sensors located in different parts of the body. These temperature-measuring sensors, via control system module, activate the shutters or valves that adjust the stream of energy delivered to the specified locations. The temperatures can be seen and set on control and display module.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide for the removal of moisture (sweat) that is generated especially during physical activity. To keep a person dry and comfortable underneath the excessive moisture is removed by moisture absorption pads located inside of suit. Moisture absorption pads are based on polymers characterized by a very high water absorption capacity.
The novel feature which are considered characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its principle of operation, together with additional objects, features and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawings.